Heartprints

Questions That Beg an Answer Concerning Our Young Church People~

This past week I had the privilege of being part of a discussion panel at a local Bible College. Thirty plus pastors and youth leaders converged on this small Ohio campus in an attempt to answer the following questions:

This past week I had the privilege of being part of a discussion panel at a local Bible College. Thirty plus pastors and youth leaders converged on this small Ohio campus in an attempt to answer the following questions:

  • How to maintain a healthy population of young people
  • Where are the church youth disappearing too
  • Insight into retaining our young church member
  • Growing the number of young church members
  • Fitting our young church members into the congregation
  • Changing the delivery instruction for our young church members
 
The dynamic of perspectives made for fruitful conversation. Though it would prove beneficial to disclose the entire three hour conversation, here are some key points from the discussion. 
 
The two pastor representatives zeroed in on the faults of leadership. One pastor stated quite boldly that too many churches have become permissive of sin in leadership simply because they need to fill a spot or the person is other wise a fit candidate. Such discrepancies will result in instability in the foundation of that church body which will ultimately trickle down to the youth of the church. 
 
The youth leader addressed the need for more foundational Bible teaching. He stated that if the youth were better grounded in the Word they would have a stronger desire to stay involved in church during those pivotal years.
 
Representing the children's leader perspective, I addressed the need to instill a sense of ownership in youth (children/teens). When youth take ownership of their faith, they are more likely to stay involved-even if parents are not. The teens from my church play a huge part in the Sunday morning children's program. They lead music, perform the skits and puppets and sometimes teach (under adult supervision of course). Their involvement is based on their testimony and we aspire to help them discover their spiritual gifts. These teens understand that they are examples to the children and take that very seriously. They are the most faithful servants we have. In fact, they groan about missing when they are unable to attend. These teens are not the church of tomorrow, they are they church of today.
 
When youth are involved, the church isn't just their parent's church, it's theirs and they are more likely to stay involved. Proverbs 22:6
 
Why do you think the youth are disappearing? 

What has been effective in your church or ministry?Questions That Beg an Answer Concerning Our Young Church People~